Dose of Venom: Early hole costs D-backs in fourth straight loss to Dodgers

By Craig Grialou | April 13, 2014 at 5:58 amUPDATED: April 13, 2014 at 5:59 am

PHOENIX — It has become an all too familiar scenario for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season: Falling behind early.

The Dodgers scored two in the second, two in the third and then added a run in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage. They would go on to win, 8-5 before an announced crowd of 38,374 at Chase Field on Saturday.

Starter Wade Miley (2-2) was ineffective, allowing five runs on eight hits in a season-tying low five innings worked.

“I really didn’t get ahead of guys. It was a lot of 3-1 counts, a lot of 2-1 counts, 2-0 counts. I didn’t really make good pitches tonight and it cost us,” Miley said.

Once again it was Adrian Gonzalez on the offensive attack, but he had help on this night. Gonzalez hit his second home run in as many days. He finished with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Juan Uribe went 3-for-5 with two RBI to help lead the Dodgers to their second straight win and fourth overall against the D-backs.

“(Miley) had no command at all. He just had no feel for the strike zone. Mechanics were not good,” D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. “He just struggled the whole five innings he was out there; didn’t give us what we needed.”
The Diamondbacks dropped to 4-10 on the season.

THE GOOD:

A.J. Pollock ended the Diamondbacks’ 13-inning scoreless drought against the Dodgers with his first career pinch-hit home run to lead off the fifth inning. It was his first home run of the season.

Tony Campana led off the game with a base hit, his fifth in his past two games. Two pitches later he advanced to second on a wild pitch, giving Arizona its first runner in scoring position of the series.

Miley continues to swing a hot bat. His one-out single up the middle in the third inning was his fifth hit of the season. He is 5-for-8 (.625) with one RBI in 2014.

Miguel Montero went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and has now hit safely in five of his last six games (.273, 6-for-22) after going hitless in his previous four (0-for-12).

Mark Trumbo plated career RBI Nos. 298 and 299 with a two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning.

THE BAD:

The Diamondbacks struck out a season-high 12 times. They fanned 11 times the night before and have now hit double digits in strikeouts in three of the past four games for a total of 43 strikeouts.

Miley allowed the lead off batter to reach base in each of the first four innings. He walked Yasiel Puig and Gonzalez in the first and second innings and surrendered hits to Puig and Turner in the third and fourth innings. Gonzalez, Puig (in the third) and Turner all scored.

JJ Putz in the eighth inning issued back-to-back two-out walks, the second forced in a run, his first allowed this season. He had been the one Diamondbacks pitcher who had yet to permit a run, making five scoreless and hitless appearances to start the season.

Campana, in the first inning, was left stranded at third. He tagged at second and moved up 90-feet on Aaron Hill’s fly ball to right field. Paul Goldschmidt and Martin Prado followed with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat, leaving the Diamondbacks 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

STAT OF THE GAME:

The Diamondbacks were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, including 1-for-11 through seven innings.

HE SAID IT:

“Guys are pressing,” Gibson said when asked about their 1-7 home record. “Everybody is trying to do too much. It’s what happens. They want to pick each other up. It’s what happens in this game when you get into streaks like this. Everybody is trying, everybody is preparing, but the game is not coming easy to them right now.”

NOTED:

– At 3 hours and 47 minutes the game ranks as the fifth-longest 9-inning home game.

– The Diamondbacks have been outscored 24-11 in the four games against the Dodgers this season.

– Gonzalez leads all active players with 26 home runs and 84 RBI against the Diamondbacks in his career.

– Miley has recorded a hit in four straight at-bats, the eighth time a Diamondbacks pitcher has done so (last: Ian Kennedy from Sept. 6-12, 2010). Mike Morgan holds the team record with five straight at-bats with a hit from June 25-July 21, 2000.

UP NEXT:

The three-game weekend series against the Dodgers wraps up on Sunday, April 13. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Trevor Cahill (0-3, 7.90) makes his fourth attempt at his first win of the season. In his most recent start, he lasted only 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on eights hits in a 7-3 loss at San Francisco. The good news, however, is Cahill is 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 11 career starts against the Dodgers. L.A., meanwhile, counters with a familiar face, Dan Haren (1-0, 0.75). He pitched three seasons for the D-backs from 2008-10, going 37-26 with a 3.56 ERA in 87 starts. Haren is in his first season with the Dodgers.